Advocates, students rally for dyslexia awareness

Following Governor Lincoln Chafee’s signing of a proclamation that declared October as “Dyslexia Awareness Month,” local advocates and students took part in a rally at the State House over the weekend as part of their ongoing awareness and action campaign.

“We’re taking the blindfolds off,” said Suzanne Arena, founder of Decoding Dyslexia RI, before several of those on hand symbolically put on and then removed blindfolds while holding books on the capitol’s steps.

According to organizers, one in five students struggles with dyslexia or another language-based learning issue. Dyslexia is a neurological language processing disorder that can take many forms, and it is not related to intelligence or work ethic.

Those on hand for the rally said the main push of advocates is for awareness and for the taking of steps to identify and provide the tools those students need to overcome their difficulties and realize their talents.

“There’s a lot of different variables, and the problem is a lot of teachers don’t know this,” said David Ahlborn, a teacher at the Wheeler School’s Hamilton Alumni Support Program.

Kari Kurto, a former teacher at Rawson Saunders School in Austin, Texas who recently moved to Rhode Island, said students struggling with dyslexia have “incredible gifts.”

“So much of their talent gets lost in the frustration,” she said.

Kurto also pointed to the example of a number of influential cultural and historical figures, including Albert Einstein, diagnosed with dyslexia.

“You can be just as successful as them if you tap into those gifts,” she said.

H. Russell Taub of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council was also on hand. He told the students present that he, too, has struggled with a learning challenge, but received valuable support.

“My disability hasn’t prevented me from doing anything,” he said.

Arena said in terms of legislative action, Decoding Dyslexia supports the formalizing of a universal definition of the disorder, the mandatory testing of young children who demonstrate markers of dyslexia and the providing of training for educators. Dyslexic students not identified before third grade, she said, can “get lost” and fall behind their peers as a result of their language processing challenges.

Arena and her son are both dyslexic. She went without a diagnosis for years and is dedicated to ensuring her son and students like him have the resources needed to succeed.

“Getting the word out, and the awareness out, is the biggest factor,” she said. “Your biggest advantage is having someone who knows.”

For additional information on Decoding Dyslexia RI visit www.decodingdyslexia.net or “like” the group on Facebook.